The city’s projected shortfall comes from lawsuit payouts, including a $210 million settlement to resolve a 2012 case in which advocacy groups alleged required disability accessibility features were not included in housing that received public money. (File photo by John McCoy/Los Aneles Daily News)

For City Hall watcher Victor Viereck, Monday’s news that Los Angeles is looking at a $245 million shortfall is no surprise.

“The city seems to spend more money without real consideration of their expenses,” said Viereck, an executive committee member for Valley Vote, an organization of residents, business leaders and others interested in improving local government in the San Fernando Valley.

He said that, as always, any reported shortfall raises shadows of concerns among residents for the quality of life in their neighborhoods, including sidewalks that need repair, potholes to be fixed, impacts on public safety and incentives for apartment owners to fix up properties or build new ones.

The city’s projected shortfall comes from lawsuit payouts, including $200 million settlement to resolve a 2012 case in which advocacy groups alleged required disability accessibility features were not included in housing that received public money.

Los Angeles city officials were urged Monday to issue up to $70 million in bonds to pay for the large lawsuit settlements approved by the City Council this fiscal year.

The shortfall follows a few others in recent years. Last year, the city controller’s office presented two reports showing a projected budget deficit of $170 million, due mostly from less than expected state money from “property tax in-lieu of sales tax” receipts, a bond repayment mechanism known as Prop. 57 that voters passed in 2004. In 2014, the city reported being $95 million in the red for paying out overtime.

Viereck said the city needs to rethink how business owners are treated so that tax revenues can be shored up.

“They hurt business as far as different restrictions and regulations that slows business down, and therefore, they get less tax revenue,” Viereck said.

The city’s recent renewed interest in making street vending legal would only hurt businesses further, according to Viereck.

“If these street vendors are allowed to sell in front of brick and mortar, then these businesses lose sales. “It’s not just sales tax, it’s income tax for state and federal funds.”

Ben Ceja, an analyst with the City Administrative Office, made several recommendations to shore up the shortfall including requests that some departments adjust hiring plans and hold off on non-required civilian hiring until March, a proposal that brought concern to the Los Angeles Police Protective League, which represents police officers.

“Crime has skyrocketed in Los Angeles and our neighborhood police patrols are short staffed every day,” said Craig Lally, president of the LAPPL. “Any proposal that delays hiring civilians so that we can get more police officers in our neighborhoods to reduce crime and improve response times puts public safety at risk.”

“The Department of Public Works is operating within its adopted budget to ensure that planned services will be delivered,” spokeswoman Elena Stern said in a statement.

The same holds true for the Los Angeles Department of Transportation.

“We were able to hire additional staff last calendar year primarily to augment our parking operations and support branch in order to do parking citation administrative reviews per Court order,” said spokesman Bruce Gillman. “Additionally, we hired personnel last summer to catch up on speed survey’s which have a backlog and inhibited LAPD from using radar enforcement to curb speeding.”

Meanwhile, Los Angeles county officials said their finances are in good shape but will monitor the city’s budget, added spokesman Joel Sappell.

“The County is now analyzing its current-year budget estimates but does not anticipate any significant shortfalls,” Sappell said in a statement. “We will need to conduct a deeper study of the city’s budget issues to determine what, if any, impact they may have on the County.”

Elizabeth Chou has reported on Los Angeles City Hall government and politics since 2013, first with City News Service, and now the Los Angeles Daily News since the end of 2016. She is a native of the Los Angeles area, and formerly a San Gabriel Valley girl. She now resides in the "other Valley" and is enjoying exploring her new San Fernando environs. She previously worked at Eastern Group Publications, covering Montebello, Monterey Park, City of Commerce, and Vernon.

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